Place and the Geography of Italian Export Performance

Abstract

Studies of contemporary economic development within industrialized societies often focus upon the local scale of analysis. From the positive externalities linked with agglomeration to the role which local institutions can play in altering regional economic trajectories, there is a tendency within economic geography to ‘go local’. Though there is much to be gleaned from local, firm-based research, the fact that the local is situated within other spatial scales, and in many cases is contingent upon broader geographical contexts (e.g. regional, national, global) is sometimes understated. We expand the geographical frames of reference by which Italian economic development, and in particular understandings of local growth in Italy, are understood, by situating the local in Italy within other meso-scale relationships.Though certain areas and regions of Italy are famous for their particular brand of local economic development, these places are not isolated nor are they independent in a geographic sense.Through detailed spatial analyses of provincial export shares, which are used to gauge the external basis of a local economy, we show that understanding and explaining economic growth in Italy and elsewhere can benefit from an approach which appreciates the significance of extra-local linkages.